I need to have a 2 acre "virgin" field plowed

Fug1000 · Apr 24, 2009

I have a 2 acre field I want to turn into a horse pasture.

I have bush hogged it but I have found I have about 1000, inch round or less, 'sticker' bush' stumps dotting the field.

I know these would play 'heck' on any horses hooves so I have to get rid of them.

Next door neighbor suggested I get it "Furrow Plowed" to a depth of 8 or 9 inches then take a harrow over the entire thing with my tractor to get rid of roots and little stumps then boxblade it flat then plant alfalfa seed and not put any horse on it until next spring.

Ok.....Questions.

1) Does this sound like the right method? Furrow Plowed?
2) If I try to do it with my B7800....what implements do I need? A Disc? A 2 or 3 pronged plow? Will my bota be able to handle it?
3) Should I just try to hire it out? (The plowing) I think I can for sure handle the harrow and boxbladeing myself.
4) Alfalfa seed? Is that what you would plant? Where would a person get this? How would it be spread?

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

ampsucker · Apr 24, 2009

Couple of questions....

First, how many horses? 2 acres is good for about 1 horse. Unless you are rotating fields every couple of months.

Alfalfa is good for hay, but I would consider other crops if you plan to do anything else besides horses with it. Alfalfa is a modest nitrogen fixer but may actually require fertilization if you want a good crop. It removes many nutrients from the soil - good for the horses, not good for the soil the following year.

You can pull a one bottom plow with your B. One bottom 14-16 inch plow is good for 7-8 inch depth if set up correctly. I would give 1 inch stumps a year to decompose before plowing. The roots will probably shut you down due to loss of traction if they are still green.

I would brush hog the field all year this year to keep things knocked down. You might even spray with roundup if that is in the budget to make sure the weeds and brush are dead. Alfalfa is sensitive to competition. Therefore, it makes sense to either kill off what is there now or grow a smother crop and till it under.

As a first smother craop, buckwheat is a better choice. If you want to save money on fertilizer, grow clover or cowpeas first as they will fix nitrogen. Then you can till them under and plant your alfalfa the following season. Alfalfa is sensitive to harvest time and so you can't just let the horses graze as they please. You need to time it carefully.

You can get all types of seeds at your local feed store. Since you don't have anything fancy, I would just spread them with a broadcast spreader and then go over the field lightly with a harrow or disk to bury them. You'll loose a few to the birds, but most will come up.

I think you can do this yourself with a B. Google it to get more info on sowing rates, timing, etc.

amp

Fug1000 · Apr 24, 2009

Thanks for the reply.

Answer: One horse to begin with, maybe one more a year after the first.

I just want the end result to be a horse pasture. I don't want to plant anything I need to harvest. I want it all just to be smooth grazing land.
It's reasonably flat now with a few very small peaks and valleys (less than 1 foot) I already have my barn built and I have all my fence lumber... I thought (before I bush hogged the field) I would be able to put a horse on it this year but I have reconsidered because of the thousand or so 1 inch stumps I created after cutting the field.

I do want a plan that puts at least one horse on this pasture by next spring.
So I don't want to give the roots a year, I want them gone now. But keep in mind, I am not against hiring someone with a big boy tractor to come turn the field for me. I figure it will be much cheaper to hire someone then it would be for me to go buy a 3 point plow. A plow I would probably only use once, for this project.

Egon · Apr 24, 2009

Check locally to find out what makes for good horse pasture grass in your area. Alfalfa it's not as it does not pasture well. It does make good hay.

Have the soil checked to find out how to amend it for the proper growth off pasture grass.

If it's affordable have the base cultivation done. If not a rototiller may work well for the area in question.

For two acres spreading fertilizer, lime and seed could be done freehand or with a small hand held spreader. It may take a little time but does not require expensive equipment. A drag of some sort for after the seeding.

Ranger Rick · Apr 24, 2009

The best time to plant grass is in September. That does not mean you can not plant it in the early spring. You will want to get started soon. You may also want to overseed it in the fall to insure a good stand of grass next year.
I think I would try a disc on the field first to see what it gets rid of. If that works then you do not need to go to the trouble of plowing and then discing.
You may want to contact you local NRCS agent for help planning your field Ohio NRCS
I found that they are very helpful. Good Luck, Rick

Egon · Apr 25, 2009

The best time to plant grass is in September.

This may depend on what climate zone one is in.

MikeInEburg · Apr 25, 2009

If you're otherwise happy with the grass that's there, I'd leave it alone. Keep it clipped for the next couple of months and the brush stumps will die and rot. Turning over the soil will just allow the millions of weed seeds a chance at life.
Mike

greenmule · Apr 25, 2009

Yeah,disking might be the way to go here[if you had a big heavy disk,but a smaller one with weight on it might also work],you could go over it and over it with disk weighted down,might get rid of alot of them little stubs,than,you could lime,fertilize and seed,and go over it again with unweighted disk.

Or you could get you a real good brush cutter/trimmer,with saw blade on it,and 4 days later you might be done plus have grass. Chain saw will get them down too.

Thats the thing with brushogging real brush,it leaves stubs,generally though,they ain't sharp,unless you got a sharp blade.

Fug1000 · Apr 15, 2010

UPDATE> 1 YEAR LATER:

Searching last year for a farmer with a plow was a lot harder than I expected....I live in a farm belt!

I could not find anyone to plow this field for me. All the farmers around here are now doing the 'surface planting' and they don't plow the fields anymore.

So...
I kept it bushhogged all last year.

This year I put an ad in my local paper and had 3 guys call me to do it on the 1st day!

A very nice guy brought his old Orange Allis Chamlmers workhorse with his plow and turned all up for me in about 3 hours.
He is coming back a few days after the next rain to disc it.

Total fee he is charging me? $75 I can't believe it's so cheap!

ANYWAY.....

So I have had a year to consider my options. In a week or two, this field will be disced and ready for seed.

I don't want to plant alfalfa. I want a good grazing grass, I don't want something I will need to harvest.

I live in south western Ohio.

What should I seed it with? Should I put something on it like roundup this year 1st?

If I plant something to smother the weeds that will grow....is there something I can plant that will do that job without the need to plow the field again? Something that will be good for both smothering weed growth and a good grazing grass? Could I plant several types of grass?

I have a nice start.... what is the next step?

savageactor7 · Apr 15, 2010

Do whatever you have to do to get rid of the stumps first...if there's 1 stump there a horse will find a way to injure itself on it. Then consider birdsfoot trefoil as a pasture grass...but check with your Ag agent first...in some states it's considered an invasive species.